Race Face teased their new 35mm bar and stem line up recently, and now it’s official, along with their all-new Aeffect saddles.

The 35mm diameter clamp zone will spread across their entire range of bars, from alloy to carbon, top to bottom, and initially include Atlas stems. There are two other stems on deck, but we can’t tell you about those yet (we’ve seen prototypes, and they’re sweet. One’s a completely new design. Don’t worry, they’ll go live in a couple weeks.).

The best part about the new bars? They maintain the strength of the originals but get wider and lighter, which they could do because the larger diameter center section lets them use thinner walled tubing (for the alloy ones). They pushed the wider center clamp section out further, too, which saved weight, and the entire package tests with better fatigue life.

Above, the heavy duty carbon SixC line gets three options: flat, low rise and high rise…

The more XC-oriented Next gets two , a flat-top and a low rise. We’ll have full specs updated here shortly on the bars.

The carbon bars come with two cut marks to chop 12.5mm and 25mm off, saving 3g and 6g respectively.

The Atlas DH-level alloy bars all grow wider but drop roughly 40g compared to the originals. (Exact specs coming soon). Three versions will be offered: flat top, low rise and high rise.

Sam Richards, design engineer, says the big difference between these compared to Easton and the others is that “we’re not looking for a stiffer bar. We’re looking for something that’s lighter but just as strong as our originals.”

Here’s a little comparison between the current 31.8 and the new 35mm on the Turbines. Above, the original has the whiter graphics, the new one is on the bottom. Actual production graphics on the 35mm bars will be a bit brighter than what’s shown here.

The 35mm flat bar (top) gets a slightly revised shape, too, getting a flat-top design rather than an equal taper. That gives it about a 5mm “rise”. Both new bars are slightly wider than the outgoing versions.

To hold them, they’ll offer 35mm ID Atlas stems. The blue ones here, however gorgeous they may be, won’t be offered immediately. But, they suspect you’ll let them know in the comments how much you want them. Have at it. At launch, you’ll get black only.

Three lengths will be offered, including this 35mm long stubby.

The new Aeffect saddles bring about their first completely new product line since the restructuring. Three colors at launch, blue, red and black, with a honeycombed shell and ti/chromo alloy rails to keep them light but strong.

They have a flat shape for easy maneuvering on top. Richards says they used a firm foam because it keeps you up on your sit bones and not down on your sensitive bits, so there was no need for a love channel.

Claimed weight is 240g, and this one hit spot on.

Check back soon for a complete spec update, or hit their booth at Crankworx this weekend for some hands on time. And look for lots more killer new stuff in two weeks!

Comments

I’m all for this but will be holding back until they offer some 65mm or 70mm stems.

BT - 08/14/13 - 1:47pm

The black atlas stem above looks to be in that range.

Gross - 08/14/13 - 1:54pm

not needed.

BT - 08/14/13 - 1:56pm

but 35mm diameter bars are all that is standing between me and KOM’ing every trail I ride…I just know it is

LilJoe - 08/14/13 - 2:00pm

Well sh!t. That blue ain’t going to match my bike? And where’s the white saddle??

ccolagio - 08/14/13 - 2:09pm

spend $140 for a bar and stem package to get a 40-50 gram savings and 0 improvements on strength (and i doubt anybody was complaining that they were snapping 31.8 bars left and right). that sounds…pointless

Dan - 08/14/13 - 2:12pm

Those stealth atlas bars look pinner. @ccolagio There’s more to a bar/stem setup than just weight, you weenie.

brian - 08/14/13 - 2:19pm

additional comment on new industry standards and marketing.

Ruadhrigh - 08/14/13 - 2:26pm

I like that they are offering the SixC bars in more rise, though I would have preferred the 31.8.

Aristotle - 08/14/13 - 2:30pm

I have seen that exact saddle more than once unbranded. Its just another saddle picked out of a catalog.

JOEP - 08/14/13 - 2:53pm

@ccolagio- I know right? I am 240lbs and I have never, ever, broken or snapped a bar. Now or 20 years ago when I started mountain biking.

I know they happen, but its a rare occurrence; because that is a one way ticket to a lawsuit so bar manufacturers have been pretty careful to put out quality products. this new standard will not guarantee that there will be zero breaks no lessen the occasional snapped bar.

@Aristotle You will not find that seat’s foam spec or shape in any catalog.

g - 08/14/13 - 3:23pm

[deleted]

Mindless - 08/14/13 - 3:27pm

Meh.

Engineer - 08/14/13 - 3:30pm

Haters gonna hate.

I like the look of the seats.
New industry standards are everywhere, some suck and will die out and some become the new standard. Im sure you wouldn’t of been open to 31.8 when they were first pushing that. Now its all we use.

Either way, that blue stem is rad, but what I really want is that new saddle.

Alb - 08/14/13 - 5:32pm

Good saddle. It is, however, as Jason points out, just a branded up Velo model. Nothing unique about it apart from the print on the cover.

Tony - 08/14/13 - 5:42pm

I use a 1.5 Fork, so this is not good for me, nobody is building 1.5 35mm stems…

El Guapo - 08/14/13 - 6:00pm

Started riding 20 years ago using 25.4 and honestly still ride some of those same bars without problems. How easy is it to crush a pop can? Take that samepop can and slit it and roll it up tighter and into a smaller diameter and suddenly this ‘thicker’ tubed, smaller diameter can… is stronger. I get that new materials are the rage, but I don’t buy into the thinner wall deal.

Mindless - 08/14/13 - 6:13pm

..I thought that the only reason for 35mm to exist was to handle those stupid 800mm+ wide bars.

I guess they are awesome for some lift assisted riding, or maybe for climbing fireroads but anything above 760mm is a bitch to ride around local fun singletrack.

RaceFace - 08/14/13 - 7:46pm

The Aeffect saddle uses a proven open mould base but the rest of the saddle is all new. We designed and developed the custom low profile superlight foam shape for easy maneuvering on the saddle and excellent comfort, even on the longest of days.

Craig - 08/14/13 - 11:26pm

Gorgeous stuff.

Evan T - 08/15/13 - 12:12am

While I like the idea of wide bar clamps, It seems like only the aftermarket has adopted it. For the design (concept… standard… whichever) to survive long term it’s going to need to be adopted by manufactures as an OEM spec item.

E.g. I own a 2013 Specialized Stumpjumper Comp hard tail, the ‘Big Red S’. First thing I did was swap the stock 90mm stem for a 100mm in order the get the Medium to fit me, so naturally I bought a stem with a 31.8 clamp so I could use my existing bars… but now I want to swap my bars to get the fit dialed just so, I’m certainly not going to buy a new stem for the sake of new bars, even if I think it’d be cool to get the wider clamp.

deanopatoni - 08/15/13 - 3:52pm

I have Easton Havoc 35mm bars in find them amazing. They inspire far more steering confidence than the 31.8 bar it replaced. Trust me, it’s not just about numbers – these totally feel better…

Mindless - 08/15/13 - 7:03pm

@deanopatoni: It is either in your head, or you have changed bar width.

opinion - 08/27/13 - 7:19pm

stem wont sell, too much metal, the bars will and the seats will.

mtnbkr4life - 02/15/14 - 12:19pm

Why all the haters
You dont have to buy their stuff
It is great that there are more options to choose from
RF have been around for a long time and make great products
I hope the new 35mm stuff is as good as the new Next SL crankset (I have 3)
I am building a Chromag Surface(another great product) and plan on using the Next 35mm 20 rise bars and Atlas 35 stem in 65mm length
If you haven’t tried the products then you do not have any reason to bash
PS the new cranksets are selling faster than they can make them
Go RF you guys rock !

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